What's the trick to drilling a hole through 1/2" thick stainless steel?
From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits.
So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).
Nope!
I can't make a dent!
What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?
1st, you don't have a Ti drill bit. you may have a TiN coated drill bit. the TiN isn't to make it stronger or sharper, it's to make it look better, for the most part.
you probably want a cobalt drill bit.
2nd, you probably want to google this question. there are plenty of resources on the net on how to do this.
Ding it with a punch to get started, else you'll just skip around on that convex surface. Use the right cutting fluid and a slow-ish drill speed.
I didn't get any further than the punch mark with the titanium coated drill bit, even after 10 minutes of trying:
I'm certainly not an expert. Looks like you're using a drill press, and small vise, which is good. I wonder, if you rough up the area with a corner of a bench grinder wheel, that might help. Might not.
You might have better luck with a clamp, or some heat shrink tubing to attach the loop.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
From my guardrail experience, I had bought titanium coated drill bits.
So I thought it would be easy to drill a hole in a stainless steel can opener (for hanging on a loop outside by the BBQ cooler).
Nope!
I can't make a dent!
What's the trick to drilling through stainless steel?
Indeed. If there was some other way to hang it by the tail, I would.
Aren't you worried about voiding the warranty?
I'd love to see what's left of that drill bit.
You might be able to make a loop shaped like a U. Make the long part of the U, a couple inches long. Slip that over the shaft, and heat shrink tubing over the U and the shaft. The Home Depot near me has heat shrink tubing in the electrical section near wire nuts. Harbor Freight has it, in the box parts section, along with screws, cotter pins, and such.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Indeed. If there was some other way to hang it by the tail, I would.
Wonder if a welding shop can weld it? Probably for more than the item costs.
Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus
Indeed. If there was some other way to hang it by the tail, I would.
I had to drill some stainless steel so I purchased a small set of Cobalt Silver & Deming Drill Bits and used Tap Magic cutting fluid. I've had to drill all sorts of stainless steel when servicing restaurant equipment. ^_^
TDD
"Danny D."
** Using a punch work hardens the metal.Maybe file a flat instead, then fit the drill bit way up in the chuck and try again.
Slowly and with some oil.
... Phil
Experience....
Opener already has a hole in it...use it.
Rich Webb Inscribed thus:
And a carbide drill ! You can buy ones specifically ground for stainless and other hard to machine materials.
"Danny D." wrote in news:khb1qo$tao$4 @news.albasani.net:
Industrial quality drill. The consumer ones are all a piece of sh*t.
Good point there. I too often myself default to chucking the bit at the end of the flutes rather than down towards the work.
Machinery's Handbook recommends "Stainless Steel: ... Broaching, threading, drilling, and reaming produce best results using a sulfochlorinated mineral-fatty oil" which, unfortunately, exceeds my knowledge of the subject.
Just thinking out loud, could you anneal it with a torch before drilling?
Since it's steel, could you mount a magnet somewhere and just stick it to the magnet?
Titanium is nice, but it's the steel under it that makes the difference. Use cheaper cobalt drill bits instead. Be prepared to re-sharpen the drill quite often. You can also use a carbide tip bit, which is even harder than cobalt steel. A concrete drill with carbide inserts might work if you keep it cool. Unless you're really careful, and have the parts bolted down very well, the slightest bit of side play will break the carbide drill.
Feeds and speeds:
It's probably work hardened stainless 300 series stainless. Find a magnet and see if it's magnetic. If it's been work hardened, it will be slightly magnetic. If not, it will be non-magnetic. If it's very magnetic, it will be 400 series stainless (contains no nickel).
The last time I had to drill through work hardened stainless, I destroyed two small drills getting a start. So, I took a piece of hard steel drill rod, with a squared off end, dumped some carborundum abrasive compound into the hole, and intermittently ground my way through the hardened stainless. You can go through glass with that technique. I don't recommend doing this as it took forever and I had to grind flat and reharden the drill rod every time it got hot, but eventually, I had a hole.
Ummm... this doesn't really belong in sci.electronics.repair.
Greetings Danny, For the best outcome you need to use the best drill bits available to you, cutting oil, low RPM, and high pressure. If you can get cobalt drills then get them. I noticed that my local hardware store is now selling split point drills. If your store carries these then use one. They also probably sell "Threading Oil". Get a small can of that. If the store cuts to length and threads pipe then maybe you can talk them out of a couple ounces of the oil they use in their threading machine. Get the dark threading/cutting oil. It will have sulfur in it which is a good high pressure additive. Don't make the mistake of using motor oil. A good cutting speed for a 1/8 drill is about 700 RPM. Keep the pressure on the drill so that it is constantly making a chip. If the drill stops cutting the SS will work harden which just makes it that much harder to drill. When you feel the drill start to break out of the back side of the part ease up on the pressure so that the drill bit doesn't break. It would be good if you can back up the part with a piece of mild steel or aluminum. This will help by keeping the drill bit from feeding too fast and breaking when it exits the back side of the work. Eric
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